Brand Squatting: What To Do About It?
A couple of days ago I received the following email, from a Mr Vladislav Sobolev, who I'd never heard of before:
"Hi,I am going to launch ReadWriteWeb.mobi, the mobile version of ReadWriteWeb
optimized for viewing on a mobile phone. I am also launching a number of other
mobile sites including buzzmachine, craphound, crunchboard, deadspin,
micropersuasion, scobleizer, sethgodin, and a couple dozen other projects.
Thought you might be interested.I'm also launching MacManus.mobi btw.
Cheers,
V.S ."
A little taken aback, I replied:
"Mr Sobolev,I have not authorized you to use the ReadWriteWeb brand or name, and this is not part of my strategy for mobile.
Therefore can you please transfer the domain name to my control. I will pay you for the registration fees. At that stage I can then discuss with you any potential business arrangement. But as of now, you do not have my permission to utilize the ReadWriteWeb name in any way and I will be looking at further action if you do so. But naturally I would prefer that we come to an agreeable solution.
Please get back to me within 5 working days.
regards,
Richard MacManus
Editor and Publisher, ReadWriteWeb Networkhttp://www.readwriteweb.com
http://www.last100.com
http://altsearchengines.com
http://readwritetalk.com"
Now, I should note at this point that I am not a lawyer and I have to admit that I have not trademarked the ReadWriteWeb name yet. Perhaps I should, but the advice I've gotten from others on this matter in the past is that because I created the ReadWriteWeb brand and have been using it for 5 years, that would suffice in any challenge.
But back to our dialog with Mr Sobolev, who clearly is beginning to enjoy himself based on his second email:
" Mr MacManus,I am in receipt of your message. I was led to believe that "ReadWriteWeb"
is not registered as a trademark, which means that anyone can legally use
this name as the name for their website, as well as use it as a domain name
in case the name is available for registration. To further illustrate the idea,
good examples are ReadWriteWeb.net and ReadWriteWeb.org registered
by someone else. As a matter of fact, the name in question has already
been registered in France, Germany, and Poland.Therefore I believe there are no legal grounds that would require that I ask your
authorization to use "ReadWriteWeb" as the name for my website which
I am planning to launch at ReadWriteWeb.mobi. Nor do I see any legal grounds
that would require that I transfer the above domain name to your control.In fact, besides the mobile version, my colleagues and I are also planning
to launch a Russian-language version, at ReadWriteWeb.ru. My colleagues
and I run a network of popular Russian websites (about 1 mln visitors daily,
which is about 5% of all Russian Internet traffic), so I have no doubt as to
the Russian version of ReadWriteWeb becoming popular among Russian
readers.We are not going to use your name or the names of other ReadWriteWeb.com
authors, of course; neither are we going to copy the copyrighted content
of your site. What we are going to do is just use the name ReadWriteWeb,
which we sort of grown fond of. And this, doubtless, is absolutely legal.Will we copy your writings? No, we won't. Basically, what we need is a name
that generates traffic, not the writings (I am a bit of a writer myself, you know).Of course, if you need this domain, we can discuss it. But I must say I am sure
it is most certainly worth a little bit more than the registration fee.Cheers,
V.S."
OK, so he has backtracked on the content issue -- in his first email he claimed he would use the .mobi domain to run "the mobile version of ReadWriteWeb optimized for viewing on a mobile phone." But in his second email he now says he won't use copyrighted content. Other than that, he pressed forward with his strategy to use the RWW brand for his own gain.
My reply:
"Mr Sobolev,I have been using the ReadWriteWeb name on my website for nearly 5 years now. It is not registered as a trademark, but you don't need a registered trademark to pursue legal action on a TM infringement case. A trademark is quasi-official on the date you first started using it in business. So you cannot use the name ReadWriteWeb.
If you pursue this strategy of using the value that I have built up over 5 years, for your own gain, then I will have to take legal action.
regards,
Richard MacManus"
OK I have to admit to using some bluster tactics of my own. I have never taken legal action against anyone in my life, so I really wouldn't know where to start. But I figured I would do some big talking of my own. Also, it's quite possible that he is right on the trademark issue, I am not certain of my ground here.
Mr Sobolev's third email read:
"Mr MacManus,I am afraid you tend to overestimate the effect of taking legal action
against someone who, being a Russian citizen, legally registered
a domain name, with a Russian registrar (so let's make a simple
calculation to find out how much time and money it would take someone
if they were to try and deprive me of my honestly registered domain).As I have already pointed out, "ReadWriteWeb" is *not* a trademark.
Unless it is a trademark, it does not matter who and when started
using the name first. The domain name was available and I registered it.
Now I have the perfect right to create whatever site I want to unless
it infringes on someone's trademarks or copyrights.In fact, this reminds me that in 2000, we created a site called Softodrom
(Softodrom.ru, now it's the most popular download directory in Russia,
with 100K+ unique visitors daily, the Russian Download.com so to speak).
And now there are dozens of various Softodroms of all shapes and colors,
and nobody gives a flying dick who registered the name first. Had we
trademarked the name, the situation would have been different,
but we had not.So I am afraid there is no point in trying to deprive me of my domain
which I honestly and legally registered. I have not infringed on your
rights, nor am I planning to do so in the future. I am just going to put
up a very nice-looking website, very mobile and very readwritewebbish
(it will be optimized to use ReadWriteWeb as the main keyphrase so
that Google indexes it the right way), so that people can visit it and click
on colorful Google ads. No rights infringed, everyone's happy.Honestly, is it my fault you have not trademarked the name?
By the way, there is also ReadWriteWeb.co.uk (parked). Unless the name
is a trademark, anyone can use it.Cheers,
V.S."
What next?
The intention was made clear with this bit: "I am just going to put up a very nice-looking website, very mobile and very readwritewebbish (it will be optimized to use ReadWriteWeb as the main keyphrase so that Google indexes it the right way), so that people can visit it and click on colorful Google ads. No rights infringed, everyone's happy."
Instead of continuing this game of email one-upsmanship, I thought I would ask the community what they think I can do in this situation. Clearly Mr Sobolev is winding me up (and my responses could be seen to be winding him up too), but the fact is he is attempting to use the ReadWriteWeb brand to his commercial advantage - by buying a mobile domain and a bunch of international domains for readwriteweb and trying to piggy-back off the brand name and RWW's Google rank. I would term this 'brand squatting' - not sure if there is such a term, but that's what it is to me.
Perhaps it is my fault for not trademarking the ReadWriteWeb name - tell me if you think I should. But even so, I can't go around buying the tens or even hundreds of variations of the 'readwriteweb' domain. So even if the brand does get trademarked, what's to stop this guy from using the readwriteweb.ru domain, using the red color scheme and a similar logo, optimizing for Google like he says he will, and making some fast bucks?
I'm interested in the community's feedback and advice on this issue. What do you think about the trademark issue and Mr Sobolev's claim that he can easily make money off the RWW brand? What can I do about this? Or do you support Mr Sobolev's position? Any and all feedback appreciated.
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Unfortunately it is probably fairly difficult to pursue legal action across country borders -- and I'm not sure how cooperative Russian authorities are in domain squatting cases (if Russia was part of the EU you'd probab;y have better luck).
But as far as I know (I am also not a lawyer ;)), I think you're right about trademark. At least in the US common law rights grant rights in the manner you describe.
Were I you, the next move I make would be one of the following:
- Have my lawyer draft him a letter (maybe would have done that earlier!)
- Contact local Russian authorities
- Use the Uniform Domain-Name Dispute Resolution Policy to complain to the registrar -- The readwriteweb.mobi domain is registered via WebNames.ru, which according to graphics on their site is ICANN-accredited for their .mobi registration ops... so they should adhere to the UDRP
Good luck, Richard!
Posted by: Josh Catone
|
January 14, 2008 4:09 PM
The expense of commencing legal action from New Zealand against someone in Russia will be completely prohibitive, especially considering what you are arguing over. And it looks as though he knows this.
Secondly, you need to register it as a trademark and I wouldn't waste time in doing so.
Posted by: Chris | January 14, 2008 4:19 PM
Formally registering the trademark is irrelevant, though it's certainly helpful. As you noted: within the United States and within your industry, you legally own the trademark and right to use it, simply by being the first to use it normally in commerce.
Anyway, even though he's Russian, that doesn't mean he'll be able to infringe on your trademark online (though it can depend on what the site looks like or its function). It's extremely fortunate that this person emailed you with that info. It's a damning piece of evidence showing his intent, that it was "registered in bad faith." And that's where a domain/IP attorney filing an ICANN dispute comes in. It looks like you'd probably meet all the necessary proofs (i.e. similarity, legitimacy, bad faith), which would get the name transferred to you regardless of the country he's in.
Posted by: Zm | January 14, 2008 4:21 PM
I was involved in trademark and content infringement cases in Russia during 1994-1999. It was a mess. I'm glad I was just the GM and that the company I worked for was footing the legal bills. We got nowhere.
The Russian courts may have 'got better' in this foul year of our lord 2008, but I would place any bets.
You have a very identifiable brand and successful web site. This may be an object lesson on how important it is to grab all the domain variations that are connected with a property.
As far as the actual protection that trade or service mark confers - my IP attorney say that litigating in the new Russia would get you a probable nothing, or an empty win - for the best in the case of a 'restraint of use' judgment would have to be enforced.
Good luck with ICANN, horror stories there, too.
Posted by: abm
|
January 14, 2008 4:40 PM
Like the previous comment stated you should be able to get the name transferred to you through icann - http://www.icann.org/udrp/
Posted by: Jeff | January 14, 2008 4:41 PM
So... uh... register it.
www.uspto.gov
Posted by: James Thomas | January 14, 2008 4:42 PM
Lots of people say they are going start a website, but few actually get around to it, and even fewer are a success. This isn't worth worrying about until there is a site up and running.
I was involved in a similar case a few years ago where both parties were based in NZ. After discussions on a NZ law forum (read: unreliable) I learned the following:
- As long as the third party doesn't try to profit from your trademark, or do anything malicious they are doing nothing wrong. In this case he practically admitted they will try to profit from your name.
- I could for example register readwriteweb.co.nz and make a site ABOUT readwriteweb and that would be fine, as long as I don't use your logo or breach your copywrite.
Until they put up a site I don't think you can do anything legally. You can however make a complaint through the domain disputes system of the appropriate top level domain company. Here's what the .mobi people say:
http://mtld.mobi/domain/faq/general#p
Q: What happens if there is a dispute about a dotMobi domain name?
A: .mobi has two dispute resolution processes. These are the Sunrise Dispute Resolution process and the ICANN Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) Process. The Sunrise Challenge process is available as part of the .mobi Sunrise trademark holders registration service while UDRP is available to challenge any .mobi domain name at any time.
The juicy details can be found here:
http://www.icann.org/udrp/udrp-policy-24oct99.htm
Posted by: Tim | January 14, 2008 4:43 PM
Can't add much to what others have said, save this - you should also contact the search engines about this. Google and others take some pains to minimize traffic to illegitimate sites. By throttling the squatter's traffic, you are essentially depriving him of leeching profit from your brand.
Well, I'll shuffle off and register throttlethesquatter.ru.
Posted by: D Ashcart | January 14, 2008 4:45 PM
I'm no expert, but...
I think you are right about Trademarks in the United States. If you use it in business and you're the first, you have some claim to it. Kind of like copyright.
But I don't think Russian courts will help. But the other suggestions about ICANN, UDRP, search engines, etc. may be more fruitful.
Posted by: pffft | January 14, 2008 4:51 PM
No expert here but how hard would it be to contact Google, once he does open something like this, and complain to their AdSense department about a domain squater using a variation on your name to make money through AdSense. I am sure they don't look upon that too kindaly and wouldn't have a problem shutting him down in a second.
Turn off his source of cash and you take away the incentive for him to do this.
You are still stuck with the fact that somebody else owns your .mobi domain but at least he won't be able to profit from it.
Posted by: Igor | January 14, 2008 5:08 PM
Richard, clearly this guy is a bit of a swine & is really just wanting money out of you - hence the email to tell you about what he was up to!
To be fair I would have ignored him at first & just kept an eye on whether he actually did go ahead & put up a site & then look at possibilities to close a site etc.
I know you can't be expected to register every domain - only the big corporates will go to that trouble (& even then, some of them either don't or forget to etc) Anyway, he could easily register areadwriteweb or change the spelling slightly but use your style/colouring.
I think he may be bluffing re the mobi. site but at the same time I thought this would have been one site you would have registered with all your writing on this medium ;-)
I am looking at a startup & I will start off by registering the major English country domains - I am sure you could afford to get these 10-15 addresses through godaddy at $9 p/y a pop & then get them redirected to your .com
Worldwide (com)
Mobile Phone
United Kingdom
Australia
New Zealand
India
Pakistan
Canada
Singapore
South Africa
The reason I am just going for these addresses is because the name is an english word that will mean something totally different in foreign languages.
As for his Dmitry Gurkin friend who has registered readwriteweb.ru - well don't know how popular that will be in Russian considering it is English - the Russian translation is - ЧИТАЙТЕ ПИШУТ СЕТЬ
Also, make sure your filter is on for viruses from his email & don't get your domain hacked like David Airey so you come back to find another Russian has taken over your site!
http://www.davidairey.com/david-airey-hacked/
Good luck, hope the boofhead just disappears (he's probably trying it on with numerous people, ignore may be best strategy - of course he will be reading this!)
[Ed's note: deleted the last sentence of this comment, as it may be offensive to Russian people]
Posted by: James | January 14, 2008 5:08 PM
I am not a lawyer.
Trademarks have territoriality. As you started the site in New Zealand (and continue to run it from there?) you might only have a trademark there, and not in the US. In any case, you're almost certainly not likely to have a trademark in Russia, and I think any efforts to go after anyone there would be pointless. Your best option would be to use the Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy as someone suggested in an earlier comment.
Given that the guy's in Russia and has almost no chance of making a success with these copycat sites, however, it's probably worth ignoring it, and just making sure you register all variations of future brands you choose to pursue. Chasing this guy will lead to stress and bother, and if you're particularly successful, he might even start looking for revenge which, sadly, is all too easy to dish out online. I seriously doubt he will continue with his plans.. it was probably just an attempt to implicitly sell you a domain which you've demonstrated you're not willing to pay top whack for.
Posted by: Peter Cooper | January 14, 2008 5:12 PM
It will be interesting to see Arringtons reaction to "crunchboard" seeing as he is a lawyer and previously worked in the domain industry..
Posted by: D | January 14, 2008 5:29 PM
If you can't get him on Trademark grounds he is definitely infringing copyright.
- The mobile version of the site is taking your copyrighted content and publishing and distributing without authorisation.
- The Russian version is taking your copyrighted content and creating a derivative work without your authorisation.
Get the bastard!
Posted by: Jono | January 14, 2008 5:40 PM
I cannot believe a company that writes daily on day to day business in the web world would do so without having their brand protected. Give it up you've just learned the first mistake in international world wide web business; if it's not protected it will be duplicated.
Posted by: Jahbuh | January 14, 2008 5:40 PM
Asking for legal advice from commenters? What is this, Slashdot?
Posted by: Aaron B. Hockley | January 14, 2008 5:51 PM
Good advice from people. I especially like the idea about contacting search engines.
Here are some other angles that I would consider:
First, you could ignore it. Unless you think that this guy can consistently put up content of the same caliber that RWW does, he probably won't get much attention. From my understanding, Google optimization only goes so far if you don't have the legitimate links to your pages to support the process.
Second, you could talk to some of the other threatened individuals - he mentions them in the first email. First it will give you a sense as to the true threat (Has this guy contacted the others too? Or just you?). If the threat is real, you can approach search engines as a team of wronged people, which could be more effective.
I particularly recommend talking to Seth Godin. He is an easy guy to reach, and I have no doubt that he could offer some insight about how to attack this from a marketing perspective, rather than a legal one.
Finally I have to question: Why did he contact you to let you know that he was doing this?
If he really wanted to cannibalize your traffic, I would think that he would try to fly under your radar rather than giving you a chance to retaliate. My intuition tells me that he wants to sell the domain (he was clearly open to that possibility - it's much less work for him) and is threatening people with "brand squatting" to increase the price.
Posted by: Nathan | January 14, 2008 5:56 PM
do you make NO money from this site?
pay a lawyer $250 to give you a real opinion. You are broadcasting your every move. Where is the sense in that?
Posted by: ryan scott | January 14, 2008 6:15 PM
Ryan, I am just trying to gather peoples feedback and discover if there are similar stories. I will of course have to engage with a lawyer to dot all the i's and cross the t's on trademark.
Posted by: Richard MacManus
|
January 14, 2008 6:20 PM
1) Keep quiet. You're playing his game. He's baiting you along to sell a (currently worthless) domain name.
2) Outsource a couple Russian programmers to go and kick the shit out of him. Hire them on www.odesk.com I bet it would take less than $100 and a bottle of Vodka. Probably legal there too!
3) Ignore him and focus on your site. I promise to visit only this version :)
Posted by: Steve | January 14, 2008 6:34 PM
Not many businesses are taking it seriously but it's the right time to implement a domain strategy. You should really be thinking of registering RWW in strategic extensions, variations of the name and also misspellings.
There are legitimate domainers and "squatters". You don't want to be wasting time and money trying to reclaim your brand from a squatter!
Posted by: Jollyjo | January 14, 2008 7:04 PM
I would have to agree with Nathan on this one (post 16). As the web gets more and more accessible world wide, we'll see more and more shysters trying to extort their way into different situations for dollars and it's probably not worth worrying about. The thing that will set you apart from everyone else is your originality and niche. No one can steal that from you, and pursuing these people is just pandering to them. Sure they can put up a site that does X, Y and Z and looks like yours, but i'm not sure it would take anything away from readwriteweb.com. I would take it as a compliment and kick on. :)
Posted by: Ezra | January 14, 2008 7:07 PM
The good news is that whenever anybody promotes ANY top level domain besides the dot com, the dot com owner benefits in increased traffic and phantom branding.
The bad news is... you should have trademarked the term;)
Jonathan
Posted by: Retro Modern Furniture | January 14, 2008 8:14 PM
Thanks for the comments everyone. But please try not to make offensive remarks about Russia, as it's a single person I have a beef with.
Obviously I will look into trademarking the name. But it looks like even Techcrunch was late to do that, as a search for them in http://tess2.uspto.gov showed that Techcrunch filed for their trademark late Dec 07.
Do many other pro blogs have trademarks?
Posted by: Richard MacManus
|
January 14, 2008 8:24 PM
It's only about $150 to file for a trademark in NZ, and it's quite simple to do:
http://www.iponz.govt.nz/pls/web/dbssiten.main
Posted by: Tim | January 14, 2008 9:01 PM
So its ok for you to rip off the ying yang as you logo since it was not trademarked by those who used it before. Hypocrite!!!
Posted by: me | January 14, 2008 9:07 PM
Well as a strategy I'd suggest that should this nasty effort actually get launched, and chances are that it won't, contact their web hosting service and make a copyright infringement claim under the DMCA. While the individuals involved don't have anything to lose, the web hosting company does. That's where you can apply the most leverage.
Most likely, however, is that this RRW mobile ripoff will either never get off the ground, or it will fold shortly thereafter.
Posted by: Jeffrey Carr
|
January 14, 2008 9:34 PM
If he wants to be a little agressive, then perhaps playing the game to his standards is just what you need to do.
There's a few lovely spammy link farms left over from the 90's... Get some links to readwriteweb.mobi from there if it ever starts.
Google will squash it right away :-)
Likewise, I think if you found some other clever russian programmers, you could make sure they copied the content to a dozen other domains... And google would further penalise it.
The domain he is sitting on is worth *nothing*.
Make sure he knows it.
Posted by: Mr. Crash | January 14, 2008 10:05 PM
Re 25: "So its ok for you to rip off the ying yang as you logo since it was not trademarked by those who used it before. Hypocrite!!!"
Comment of The Year, without a doubt :-)
Posted by: Richard MacManus
|
January 14, 2008 10:25 PM
fyi I have filed the trademark application now.
Posted by: Richard MacManus
|
January 14, 2008 10:55 PM
While you're at that, Richard, you might want to consult an attorney versed in domain name-trademark disputes. I blogged about 3 of them if you're looking for some.
FYI, though, one does have a trademark if s/he uses the term "in commerce". From what I read here it appears you do (even if it's not registered), but an attorney will be in the best position to say.
If you're more concerned with securing the domain name/s, then UDRP is the route to go as someone suggested here. Otherwise, trying to secure any form of "compensation" from someone outside your jurisdiction is a tough challenge.
Unless you're up to it. ;)
Posted by: Dave Zan | January 14, 2008 11:07 PM
Here's a comment from your faithful russian reader. Sorry, sir, but according to Russian laws Mr. Sobolev is right and futhermore, if Sobolev registers a trademark here in Russia (especially if he does it before you do), you won't be able to get the .ru domain under your control. If you register a trademark before he does -- there's a possibility for lawyers to make Sobolev give in and to get the .ru domain under your control.
If Mr. Sobolev uses your copyrighted content (even translated) for his site, you can sue him for infringing copyright (as you didn't permit him to use your copyrighted materials). I think nobody gives a damn to a RWW'ish website, which has a low-quality content far from original RWW. So either Sobolev shall "steal" your content or he fails with his project.
But my humble advice for you both is to try to collaborate instead of irritating each other. For example, you may deploy your high-quality content for Sobolev to publish and license it for translating for his project -- for some royalty, of course. Some regular icome for you, some more auditorium for your content, some good, guaranteed to read content for Sobolev (who can better maintain a *russian* website, undoubtly) - I think, it's a win-win.
Posted by: Rimmer | January 15, 2008 12:02 AM
His .mobi version won't see any Google benefits from having your site name in the domain. It will be treated just the same as any new site and won't be able to piggy back off yours one little bit.
Posted by: Patrick Altoft | January 15, 2008 12:47 AM
Russia is a strange country in spite of the fact that it still observes the law. Besides, have you heard of problems concerning British Council office in Russia?!
Posted by: Antilos | January 15, 2008 12:54 AM
Richard, seems like he's definitely winding you up!
He has been quite provocative, even registering the mobi version of your surname - that's odd. Have you asked him his intention for that domain name?
Recently I've seen my content appear on some travel blogs, word for word, with Google ads next to it. I've written to them but had no reply.
I don't run Adsense on my blog and recently, despite all the hard work in the past year and press attention and relevant quality backlinks, I just got 'rewarded' by Google with a PR drop from 4 to 3.
Perhaps it's because I don't run Adsense that Google has 'penalised' me?
The whole Adsense thing makes me sick, it creates greed and underhandedness. Would people hijack your brand if Adsense didn't exist? I think not.
Something needs to be done about this and the criteria in which Google allows people to join the program.
Maybe they should only people to join with websites that have been going a year at least, or maybe 2 years.
We'd then see if these people have the stamina to run a website without any monetization for a couple of years.
But, Google has shareholders to please and therein lies part of the problem: greed!
Posted by: Garrison | January 15, 2008 1:12 AM
I just want to add something about trademarking your name.
I tried to trademark Holiday Pad in the UK a couple of years ago and failed, despite spending (no, wasting!) over 200 pounds (400 dollars)
They based their decision on a Google search which revealed holidaypad.com (my site is .net)
Nevermind that the .com had no content, it's a parked domain and has been parked to this day!
So, it's not always easy to trademark names, or terms.
Posted by: Garrison | January 15, 2008 1:22 AM
Richard, Speaking as someone who started an entire industry in 1996 based on domain registrations (NetNames.com), I would suggest:
1. Don't get drawn in, don't comment publically
2. Don't worry too much about the Trademark registration, it will take over a year and not help much on this one
3. Take some advice on the 'bad faith' registration at the registry level - you have the evidence in your hands
4. Think about proactively doing some defensive registrations (someone registered readwriteweb.co.uk in October last year, you should have had that one)
5. Keep building your brand, that's what works in the end
6. Don't spend much money on a .mobi registration, it's not worth it!
BTW, I've been out of this business for seven years and I'm not an attorney.
Cheers,
Ivan
Posted by: Ivan Pope
|
January 15, 2008 1:31 AM
Do you have any contacts at Google? I imagine you'd gain one or two over the course of working in this business...anyway, send him this saga, and see what he can do about torpedoing the PageRank of all this guys' associated sites. He's obviously a cheater, Google wants to rid itself of those kinds of results too!
Posted by: Jordan | January 15, 2008 1:56 AM
Richard,
do not worry about them. Use m.readwriteweb.com, which is the trendy thing to do anyway, and forget about it.
You will never be able to control all the domains, subdomains and accounts in the world. Or are you going to try to fight against myspace.com/readwriteweb, facebook/readwriteweb and so on ??
Simply focus on this your / our site ... :D
Posted by: hombrelobo | January 15, 2008 1:57 AM
There isnt much else to add other than those already mentioned above, but i would most likely have to agree with James, as this all could and well just have been a prank. Thus, the more attention, need and desire you express, the more he feels he can increase the premium of his potential earnings... its all about supply & demand, back to Econ 101.
Good luck with it.
Posted by: Bingdorf | January 15, 2008 2:00 AM
Richard
register your trademark asap in US and Europe where most of your audience is. Russia/Asia is a mess from a legal stand point
I would also encourage your to register asap local domains (like de /fr...) for RWW and your other blogs
best
Ouriel
Posted by: Ouriel Ohayon
|
January 15, 2008 2:57 AM
Richard,
i think it's one of the most important things to register the domains of all important tld's - in fact this are at a minimum com, co.uk, de, org, net and maybe ru. You didn't make it and that's a huge mistake of yours. Anyway, as above i agree to those pointing to icann to solve that domain problem. If you don't want him to profit of his site, stop him by search engines. Maybe you could use your skills to kill his keywords. ;-)
Stefan
Posted by: Stefan | January 15, 2008 3:51 AM
Jordan, I'm not sure Google wants to rid itself of those type of sites because they generate advertising income, therefore profits.
The guy wouldn't be hi-jacking someone's brand in order to make a quick and easy buck using Adsense, if he didn't think he could make money.
He wouldn't be the first and certainly won't be the last.
Google has no incentive to rid the world of sites like this as it would be biting off the hand that feeds. In some ways they've created a monster (Adsense) and I guess their shareholders will not be losing any sleep over Russian dudes making some more money for them!
Posted by: Garrison | January 15, 2008 3:54 AM
The .mobi domain name may be lost (legally, etc.), but the guy is in trouble if he copies your content. Let's just hope the site is a failure.
Posted by: Jorge Rosa | January 15, 2008 4:11 AM
I'm not a lawyer, but I took class on Intellectual Property last year. :)
I'm commenting you from Russia, so I will talk about Russian laws.
It's not only the registered trademark that is protected by law, but also a so-called "commercial name" - the name, that had been used by an organization to generate revenue and is well-known in the industry and among the customers.
The term "well-known" is informal, so it's very difficult to prove such cases before the court. But theoretically speking it's possible.
Posted by: Maksim | January 15, 2008 4:16 AM
Hi Richard,
As James mentioned above, if you use GMail, be sure to check your 'filters' for malicious email forwarding.
I recently went on holiday to find that someone had been monitoring my situation through a GMail hijack. On the day I left, they stole my domain name.
Granted your situation is different, but perhaps the comments left on my blog post will help you in some shape or form. I've linked to my explanation of what happened through my name.
All the best.
Posted by: David Airey | January 15, 2008 7:44 AM
.mobi was always going to be a waste of time!
Check out Wikipedia's entry for Trademark Infringement and, in particular, the link to Passing Off.
Mind you, trying to enforce any judgement in Russia might not be worth the effort.
Good luck!
Posted by: HeavyLight
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January 15, 2008 8:10 AM
You'll get nowhere complaining to the web hosting company in Russia. Trying to get a Russian web hosting company to comply with an order to shut a website down is like trying to get a Swiss bank to reveal the identities of their clients. The secretive nature of Russian web hosts, and their inclincation to ignore court orders is why a lot of the illegal file-sharing networks are based in Russia with Russian domains (.ru).
Seriously, you would have more luck persuading North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons program than to persuade a Russian web host to shut this joker down.
I agree with previous commenters - the fact that he took the time to email you before setting up the site and threw this in your face is obviously to see if you will pay him off to disappear. He's holding you to ransom like a common kidnapper.
I also agree with other commenters in that you should first contact Google and get his Adsense account shut down. Choke off the cash supply and he would most likely abandon the domain as worthless. Plus have you tried a WHOIS trace to see if the domain REALLY is registered in Russia?
For him to seriously threaten your PageRank, he would have to consistently come up with quality content and get people to link to him. I doubt he has the inclination to do that much work.
To be on the safe side, consider marking your RSS feed with a copyright notice and a link back to the real RWW, just in case he is inclined to scrape your RSS feed.
Good luck.
Posted by: Mark O'Neill | January 15, 2008 9:40 AM
I wouldn't worry too much about this. People have tried to profit by squatting/leaching off of others for as long as we can remember. It is neither worth the hassle nor the effort to pursue action.
Your true intellectual property lies in your content and your continued ability to produce it on an ongoing basis. Sure he can put up a "ReadWriteWebbish" kinda site....BUT, it is NOT ReadWriteWeb. He claims to be "a little bit of a writer" himself. I doubt that any of your readers would be duped into thinking it's the same brand. And those that do....jeez, you wouldn't have wanted them anyway.
Wish him well with the hope that he would be successful in earning a living trying to imitate your brand.
Posted by: Karm Khanna | January 15, 2008 10:07 AM
Hello,
I didn't read all of the posts above, but I would go to Google as they seem really hate crap like that when it comes to search rankings and their integrity. As for the IP aspect I doubt you would see a trademark respected in Russia any more than in China or Mexico.
GOOD LUCK and keep us posted, Dick
Posted by: Dick | January 15, 2008 10:20 AM
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